dj bean

The Hat Trick: Merlot and behold

The Bruins seem to have a full head of steam at the right time. After Mark Recchi delivered the game-winner with 19.7 seconds remaining in regulation to give the B's a 4-3 win over the Lightning on Tuesday (recap), the B's have won three straight since their ugly 3-0 loss to the Ducks last Monday.

With their three-game winning streak and a two-point lead over the Canadiens in hand, the Bruins will face the Thrashers -- the team they embarrassed last Thursday to kick off their stretch of improved play -- in Atlanta on Thursday. They may have played a statement game just last week, but they could have another one coming up.

On the subject of Tuesday's victory, the Bruins once again left more to be desired from a couple of their lines (see below), but they were able to take a contest against a good Lightning team in a game that featured plenty of back and forth. The Bruins had one-goal leads in each of the three periods, but the one they received from Recchi with less than 20 seconds left was the only one they were able to keep.

A few notable statistics on the night came in the form of Steven Kampfer's first NHL goal, Marc Savard's 700th career NHL point, and -- this one you won't find anywhere else -- Shawn Thornton's second assist of the season, which ties him with Tim Thomas.

Here's the Hat Trick:

MERLOT LINE KEY ONCE AGAIN

Raise your hand if you expected Shawn Thornton to have a career-high seven goals in late December. Now raise your hand if you expected Brad Marchand to have as many goals as Tyler Seguin (five) late in December.

Now that you have both hands free, think about just how huge the Merlot Line has been for this Bruins team. As you consider that the rest of the lines have needed tinkering as the season has progressed, note that the novelty of fourth-line goals has worn off.

In fact, the games that don't feature Thornton, Gregory Campbell or Marchand on the scoring sheet are becoming more rare with each passing contest. At least one of the three has had a point in three of the B's last five games (noteworthy considering the Bruins were shut out in one of those games), and the Merlot Line has been represented with at least a point in seven of the last 13 games. On the season, they've had at least a point in 15 of the Bruins' 35 games, good for 43 percent of their contests.

It's not as though these guys are producing garbage goals. They're scoring key goals that change the landscape of games. Tuesday night was the latest example. With the B's and Lightning knotted at two, Campbell won the face-off in the offensive zone, Thornton fired a wrist shot and Marchand banged the rebound home. Thornton, whose 77 shots on goal this season ties him with Milan Lucic for third among Bruins forwards, has long been willing to toss shots at the goalie to create rebounds, and it's paying off.

TOP LINE NOT TOPS

Forget what Nathan Horton hears, right now it's about whether anyone can find him.

It may seem like the Bruins' ultra-talented winger is criticized a heck of a lot, but he's just too skilled to be a non-factor as often as he is. Take Tuesday, for example. He got a secondary assist on Kampfer's goal (his 41st point against the Lightning in 41 career games against them), but that's just about the only proof that he played in the game. Horton posted zeros in the shots and hits categories.

No. 18 was barely on the ice in the early going. His 3:09 of ice time in the first period was the second lowest on the B's, as only Thornton (3:06) played less in the first 20 minutes. He finished the night with a season-low 11:36 (he'd had less than 15 minutes of ice time in just two of his first 33 games). Furthermore, his assist on Kampfer's goal was hist first point in the last seven games. Horton, who seemed a safe bet to lead the Bruins in goals early in the season, has not scored since Dec. 11. The 25-year-old had seven goals in his first 15 games this season, but has scored just three times in the 20 contests since.

Milan Lucic, meanwhile, has extended his streak without a point to five games, though he saw more ice time as the third period went on than his linemates. The Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Michael Ryder line is looking more and more like this team's top line as of late, an argument supported by how Tuesday's shifts were divvied. Horton had 17, while linemates Lucic and Marc Savard each had 20 shifts. Krejci led all Bruins forwards with 27 shifts, while Wheeler and Ryder finished the night with 25 and 23, respectively.

Ryder now has four points in the three games since Claude Julien reunited him with Krejci and Wheeler. His 11 goals put him in a tie with Horton for second on the team behind Lucic's 16.

THOMAS CAN HANDLE THE EXTRA WORK

For the first time this season, Tim Thomas has started six games in a row and, with the exception of getting carried away in cutting down the angle to allow Vincent Lecavalier's wrap-around goal in the second period, it didn't show on Tuesday.

Thomas has allowed 15 goals over this six-game stretch, and while those numbers are far from what the league has come to expect from Thomas this season (topping the league with a 1.73 goals against average and .947 save percentage), he hasn't seemed out of whack in the slightest. That's why Tuukka Rask is a safe bet to spend a seventh straight game on the bench on Thursday in Atlanta.

It's a subject that's been beaten to death and a question that's been asked over and over, but the division of playing time has not been this extreme all season (no Bruins goaltender had started more than four straight prior to Monday). There's still reason to believe that Rask will have a big impact on the Bruins this season, but right now there is no goaltender having a bigger impact on the league than Thomas.

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